


The More Things Change (the more they stay the same)

by Pfain Ryder (Cat_Moon)



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:31:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Pfain%20Ryder
Summary: Al struggles with the confusing and conflicting memories brought about by Sam's constantly changing time. You can change people's past, but you can't change *them*.





	The More Things Change (the more they stay the same)

**Author's Note:**

> Published in Green Eggs & Ham #4.

Al Calavicci didn't need arthritis, he had _the pain._ It seeped into his bones, clear down to his soul and beyond, making him feel as ancient as Father Time himself.

He poured the last of the whiskey with shaking hands. The hum of the Project when it was very quiet was usually soothing, but tonight it was a reminder of his loneliness. He was tired, tired of it all. For just a moment, he wished...Sam would actually stay lost in time.

Al flipped a switch on the sound system, and the mellow strains of Ray Charles singing _Georgia On My Mind_ wafted around him like an old friend. He always listened to "Georgia" when he was depressed. It was guaranteed to make him feel...ten times worse, which is exactly what he wanted this night. No, that was wrong. "Georgia" was his favorite song. He never listened to it when he was depressed. When had Al Calavicci ever been depressed? He wished he could blame the booze for his foggy memory, but he couldn't. That too, was Sam's fault.

Lamenting his callousness, Al gulped some of the burning liquid. It went down bitter, just like his life. _I didn't know what it would turn into... I really know how to pick 'em._ He choked out a mirthless laugh, taking another slug of whiskey. It had been a long time since he'd gotten this drunk, indeed, a long time since he'd had more than a few beers at a time. Beth would have kicked his butt to hell and back.

But Beth wasn't here right now. And somehow, though he didn't quite know how, it was because of Sam.

"I shouldn't be pissed at Sam, he's my buddy," Al told the empty office, with flawless, drunken logic. It wasn't really Sam to blame, was it? After all, he'd sacrificed his leap home to bring Beth and Al back together again. Al should be forever in his debt. They'd been happily married for thirty-nine years.

_Well, not quite happily..._

Al shoved the photograph of Beth's smiling face roughly into the desk drawer. It was the same old story, nothing much had changed in all the years they were married. Vietnam hadn't done him any favors, good or bad. He was the same Al, she the same Beth. You could change people's past, but you couldn't change _them_.

You can lead a horse to water...or was it booze?

Al gave up on the empty glass and tipped the bottle up to his lips, dredging for the last drops. Maybe it would have been better to get it over with early, when he was young enough to bounce back. He didn't feel very elastic these days. He was a worn rubber band, saggy and limp.

The fighting had started again, like a recurring dream, shortly after he'd joined Project Quantum Leap. The threats, the angry silences. And Beth had finally done what she'd threatened so many times in the years before 'Nam.

She'd left him.

Not for Dirk, not for something as simple or easy to understand as another man. She said she wanted a life of meaning, that didn't revolve around someone else's schedule. Throwing their marriage back at him like a slap in the face. Maybe, if Al could understand, he wouldn't feel so betrayed.

Maybe he did understand.

He smiled crookedly at the picture of Sam which graced the opposite side of the desk from where Beth's had been, talking as if Sam was there. "The jokes on you, buddy-boy. Thought you were gonna fix things up nice and tidy. Fix everything... Beth said she was tired of waiting for me. Can you believe it? Like I was leaping too or something. She said I might as well have been, that I'd always been somewhere else, never home. It was her turn to be somewhere else. You really did it this time, you little fool. You coulda been home in bed right now, with Donna. Fixed it up real good."

Al glanced at the calendar on the wall, where a colorful spring meadow floated above the new month. "April Fool's, buddy." He laughed out loud, a high-pitched guffaw.

He hoped Beth and her new life would be very happy together.

Struggling to his unsteady feet, he started off towards the Imaging Chamber, to say hello to Sam. Once in the hall, though, he realized he was hungry. Searching his pockets for change, he detoured in the direction of the cafeteria vending machines.

**The end**

**Author's Note:**

> The original version of this story was written for a series I was planning, and I have recently decided to finish. I struggled with the decision whether to leave this one or delete it. In the end I decided to keep them both, because that story is part of a slash universe. Since this one is a stand-alone gen, I figured there might still be gen fans around who don't read slash/pre-slash, and I didn't want to deprive them of the opportunity to read this story.


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